Joe Padilla

I got my bike all ready now. Yesterday I got my drive train replaced. Got a new crank, cassette, and rear derailleur. Got a new chain, some new handlebar tape, new cables, new brakes, and a set of full fenders.
I'll be getting my new tires next week! 22 more days!






Oh yeah I hit 2000 miles in 3 months today!

cbike

So far this is the least loaded rig I've seen in this thread.

robert schlatte

Here is my 1980 Schwinn Voyageur loaded for a short trip in northern Michigan. I recently upgraded this bike to 700cc wheelset and modern freehub and triple crank drivetrain. I was quite pleased how well the bike performed well under load.

djyak

Where did you ride in the U.P.? Next year I'm looking at riding from Roscommon to Newberry in the U.P. on the old rail trail.

robert schlatte

I rode from Topinabee to Wilderness State Park. I camped and then returned the next day. The rail trail you are referring to goes from Gaylord to Mackinaw City. It goes through Topinabee. You cannot ride across the Mackinac Bridge. However, I have read that for $5 a bridge employee will drive you and your bike across. Apparently, there is a phone on the south end that you can call and request a ride. (The toll booths are on the north side).

Six jours

djyak

Yeah, there are apparently a lot of people who can't drive across the bridge, too scary. My mother-inlaw is one of them! I didn't know about them taking cyclists across though, I just figured on the ferry. The Michigan Cyclists website showed some great pics along with a link to some homes that welcome in cyclists like B & B's.

Greenshredman

zoltani

oh, nice! How dare you post such a pic without specs!

Six jours

I was drunk at the time.

Homemade frame cribbed from a 1938 Reyhand, lots of Velo-Orange parts (cranks, bars, rack, main bearings, rims, fenders), mostly Shimano drivetrain (still don't why they make 9 and 10 speed indexed DT levers; I've got to be the only one buying them), Tektro cantilevers with 50 year old Mafac levers, a gigantic sofa of a saddle from Brooks (B33) and my all-time favorite tires; the 650b 42 mm Grand Bois Hetre.

The Carradice bag is temporary; just a placeholder until the Berthoud panniers arrive next week. Still not really a "loaded" touring bike, but the closest thing I've got.

Glad you like it!

aroundoz

That really is a really a classy looking bike but can you elaborate. I guess I am showing my age but what does "cribbed" mean. I actually thought it was a GT frame due to the way the stays meet the TT. Did you really build it?

Six jours

"Copied". I build frames as a hobby and mostly steal old French designs of the 1930s and 40s.

And yeah, everybody assumes it's a GT, which kind of bums me out, but oh well. The "triple triangle" design has been around for at least a hundred years and was used on some of the finest cyclotouring bikes ever built, way back in the day.

bmike

that looks nothing like a GT.
but, i can see where some folks would think that...

nice rig, nice work.
you are honing that craft, for sure.

Six jours

Good to see you around, Mike. Hope the family's doing well. Our oldest will be five soon, which is kind of hard to believe.

I rode the bike at one of the local club events and the owner of the host shop - a "guru" according to some - said "Nice GT". I said "Actually, I built the frame myself" and he replied "I know a GT when I see one." I asked something along the lines of "So GT built touring frames with Henry James lugs, eh?" and he just repeated his belief that he "knows a GT when he sees one". Which kind of reinforced my opinion about "gurus" in the SoCal bike scene. But yeah, most folks just see the triple triangle and make the assumption. C'est la vie...

bmike

Family is good. Oldest 4 1/2 now. Youngest almost 1 year.
Little riding for me. Lots of brevet organizing and dreaming of a day when I can rack up the miles again. Soon, I hope. Looking forward to a 3 - 4 day dirt tour. Just have to put it on the calendar.

Really nice looking bikes you've posted up. Regardless of what a guru thinks.

Joe Padilla

Got my trans american bicycle route map set in the mail. Got the new tires on ( schwalbe marathon mondial's), got a rear view mirror, and I got one more week till I leave! Nothing like a new adventure. For me its whats life's all about!

aroundoz

Thanks for that and I hope no offense was taken. Thinking it was a GT was only my initial reaction but it's way to classy to be confused with one upon a closer look. I had no idea that the triple triangle design has been around that long and that really says something about the design. I always thought it made sense and wondered why other manufacturers don't do the same. Probably because they don't want their bikes to be confused with being a GT!

Six jours

No offense at all. I'm flattered that you like the bike!

sgnl2nz

I took my recently acquired and modified 1990ish Univega Via Carisma on her first real shakedown ride today to the Oakland hills before doing some seeerious bike camping next weekend in the Santa Cruz mountains. Nothing fell off. Nothing blew up. I nearly did both.

dabrucru

[QUOTE=Joe Padilla;14161338]Yeah thats a light mount, I ride to work everyday and its dark on the way home, and with my new handlebar bag I had to mount my light somewere. I tried to mount to the bottom of my front fork but it sat to low for the other cars to see my light and my rim blocked some of the light so I took it to the car shop next to my work and the rigged it up with some tubing and zip cords! Its on there tight too!
[/QUO

very nice neighbour hood

chekmx

My Bacchetta Bellandare at the start of an overnight trip.

Six jours

Just a slight update to show the cute little Berthoud panniers which arrived this afternoon. Almost embarrassing to post this as a "loaded" touring bike...

djb

cute little is right, kinda funny being so small, but certainly add to the whole period look dont they? Didnt say before, but that really is a nice looking bike.
question-can you describe how the multi-coiled Brooks feels like riding, it looks like it would be moving all over the place and would feel very strange. Just curious.

Six jours

The panniers hold a spare tire, a tube, a patch kit, tire levers, C02 inflator, Allen wrench set, and a compact binocular. I could probably cram in a rain jacket or something similar, but that's it. So they're not the most useful panniers I've ever heard of, but they do meet my needs at this point. They're not going to cut it for extended touring, if it ever comes to that.

The saddle moves all over the place and feels very strange. I'm getting used to it, but it's a very odd feeling right now. It is comfortable, though.

djb

Take this with a grain of salt, but my first impression of the bike and saddle, completely from.an aesthetics angle, is that all the coils front, back and below- is too much, and doesn't seem to suit the bike. I could see it on an older looking bike, but I could see a rear sprung model being less "present" visually, as well as fitting more with the (as I perceive) the 50s look, as opposed to an earlier look that that type saddle seems to me.

Again, not criticizing, just voicing my thoughts upon seeing it each.time.

Cheers